Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Today in Soap Opera History (January 9)

1984: One Life to Live's Estelle was full of herself.
1985: Cruz found Eden unconscious and tried to save her on Santa Barbara.
1986: Days of our Lives' Mike met Robin Jacobs.
1989: Delia and Roger were married on Ryan's Hope.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1958: On The Edge of Night, Virginia (Cathleen Cordell) bumped into John H. Phillips (House Jameson) and identified him as "Mr. X". Phillips told Virginia he wanted to keep his identity confidential to avoid making enemies with any of his clients. He wanted to remain politically neutral in their eyes.

1968: On Another World, Rachel Matthews (Robin Strasser) told Walter Curtin (Val Dufour) she no longer had plans for Hollywood.

1980: On As the World Turns, Joyce (Barbara Rodell) told Don (Conard Fowkes) she came back to make amends.

1981: Judith McConnell aired for the final time as Miranda Bishop on Another World.

1984: UK daytime soap opera Miracles Take Longer premiered on ITV. The series depicted the life and cases dealt with by a branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau. It only lasted four months, and was replaced by Australian soaps Sons and Daughters, The Young Doctors and The Sullivans.

1984: On One Life to Live, Estelle (Elizabeth Hubbard) bragged to Dorian (Robin Strasser) she might win the Community Service Award thanks to her many efforts. "These things are just thrust on me," Estelle said, as only she could.

1984: On The Edge of Night, Geraldine Saxon (Lois Kibbee) worried about Shelley Franklyn (Pamela Shoemaker), who began drinking heavily and mixing pills with alcohol.

1984: On Emerald Point, N.A.S., Lt. Simon Adams suffered jet aircraft "flame-out" during Naval maneuvers with tragic results for his flying partner. Also, the problems of the storm-tossed love affair between Ensign Leslie Mallory and Russian Lieutenant Alexi reached a dramatic climax when the lovers learned that the young Russian officer had been ordered home. And Deanna Kincaid, now fearing for her own safety at the hands of co-conspirator Admiral Yuri Bukharin, took drastic action to complete her espionage assignment and protect her identity from becoming known to Naval Intelligence.

1989: On the first episode of Ryan's Hope's final week, Roger (Ron Hale) and Delia (Ilene Kristen) were married.

1991: Michael Easton made his first appearance as Tanner Scofield in Days of our Lives.

1997: On Sunset Beach, Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down) found herself in an awkward position.

1998: On The Young and the Restless, Christine (Lauralee Bell) and Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) traveled to New York City hoping that Peter Garrett (Justin Gorence) would hand over the manuscript, which Sasha Green had penned prior to her death, outlining all of Phyllis' misdeeds. But Phyllis (Sandra Nelson) had gotten to her ex-boyfriend, Peter, first, and a fight over the tell-all book ensued.

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2006: Actor Don Stewart died at age 70. He was best known to soap fans for his 15 year run as Mike Bauer in Guiding Light. Click here to watch Stewart sing on the 1979 Christmas episode. The Norfolk Daily News reached out to We Love Soaps in 2015 while they were working on a new feature about Stewart's life. Read their story here.

2007: On All My Children, Danielle Frye (Tanisha Lynn) was poisoned by the Satin Slayer. Before falling unconscious, Danielle caught a glimpse of her assailant.

Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

2008: On Passions, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald (Lindsay Hartley) fantasized what it would be like to finally tell Ethan Crane (Eric Martsolf) that he was the father of her young son. And Theresa's inspiration? An imaginary Spanish-language telenovela called "Las Pasiones de Theresa" starring her and Ethan.

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2012: On the first episode of One Life to Live's final week on ABC, multiple residents of Llanview visited Heaven and Hell.

In honor of Crystal Gayle's birthday, watch her duet performance with Gary Morris from the end of her week of guest appearances on Another World in March 1987. "(You Take Me Away To) Another World" became the show's new theme song.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a soap history entry for this date or a future date, email editor@welovesoaps.com.